A golf society for residents and friends at Condado de Alhama

Archive for Sep, 2010

This week was a pairs competition and again there were some great scores. 28 players took part on a much improved course. The greens were the fastest they’ve been since it opened in December. Unfortunately that will change next Tuesday when the are being hollow tined again! All the bunkers are now back in play, so the next task of levelling the channels in the wasteland has started. Also at the end of play on Friday the greenkeepers have been mowing all the rough down to almost fairway length. Alessandro said this would happen in the winter so it can grow anew.

There is a competition on October 16th organised by Alhama council which may attract more spanish golfers to the course (25e entry to residents).

Also they have employed a local professional to give instruction to 8 – 10 year olds every saturday morning between 10 and 12.

Sara in the golf shop will be leaving us shortly to work at Suarines de la Terraza (La Torre 2 to us). I for one will miss her smile and friendly attitude. She will be replaced in the shop by Antonio, who is at present a marshall and has been here since it opened. He is spanish but his english has improved remarkably over the last year, and he will be a great replacement. So that means we shall get a new course marshall soon.

Anyway, that’s the news and here are the results:

1st
James Crilly and Ted Hall 46pts

2nd
Owen Moore and Kevin Murray 46pts

James and Ted had the better back nine.

It was going to be a free and easy comp next week to kick off the winter fixtures, but it seems so many old friends are coming out that it would be a shame not to take advantage, so it will be an individual stableford event.

The featured hole this week is the long par 4 14th.

Barry

from the tee the fairway looks narrow as the deep rough encroaches like a models waist at the length of your drive.....

the 2nd shot has to avoid the fall away area to the left of a long and narrow green......

the evening shadows make a great foreground to the line of penthouses.....

It’s that time of year again…….. hollow tining of the greens is due and the course will be closed for 3 days. The course will close at 12 midday on September 28th and will remain closed on the 29th and 30th.

So it will open on October 1st which is a friday, and the society will still play, but I think we will start off the winter fixtures with a free and easy competition. This will be where where players select their own time on the sheet and decide what kind of comp the group will play, whether it be for 2, 3, or 4 players. Decide your own stakes amongst yourselves so myself and Graham will not be collecting any entry fees on that day or giving prizes out.

There will still be a wednesday evening meeting in the Clover at 7 pm where we will help golfers find partners.

In the next week or so I will post a list of fixtures until the end of March which will cover the winter period.

The repair of the bunkers is continuing, and should be completed within a couple of weeks.

Still no news on the clubhouse though. Perhaps if Paramount do decide on Condado 2 for the location of their theme park it may rouse the banks into action!

Although the restaurant is now closed, the Clover is now opening at 11am and serving food from the restaurant kitchen for hungry (and thirsty) golfers.

Well, what a day! I know it was forecast but the rain came in the middle of the round and sent all the golfers running!

I was on the 10th and got my 5 but Paul and Jordan didn’t see it as they had their backs to me under the umbrella. When they told me they didn’t see it I said it was a 4.

After the club flew out of my hands on the 11th tee I realised the best option was to leave the course especially as I live on the 12 tee!

Saw Kevin and John in front of us bypass the 11th green for the carpark and couldn’t see anyone behind us so thought everyone had done the same.

When we waited in the Clover for the cards nearly everyone said they had done the same, but there is always the exception.

Fred Twomey, his wife Bernie and friend Paul Christopher completed the full 18 holes. They are all from Ireland so maybe they will never get a full round in if they wait for good weather. Admittedly they were 1st out but that is the luck of the draw.

Myself and Graham considered abandoning the competition but felt their perseverence deserved some reward.

Unfortunately for Paul there were only 2 prizes and his score didn’t merit one – but I applaud his determination.

The winner of the 1st division was Fred with a great score of 38 pts, and the winnner of the ladies and 2nd division was Bernie (his wife) with 29 pts. Unfortunately she only had one prize as there was only one lady playing. She stayed at home to get warm while Fred collected the family money.

One other player (Joe McGivern) completed the full 18 holes, but as his partners left him on the 9th his score of 34 pts could not count.

Also Ken and Alicia Saunders made a valiant attempt to complete the round but were discouraged at the 16th by thunder and lightning

Next week is a pairs event, and after that we start the winter fixtures which will have the new reserved times between 09.00 and 10.00.

A mishap on repairing the 10th bunker is pictured below but nobody was injured. Also the featured hole this week is the par 5 13th across from Al Kazar, with its wicked sloping green.

One last message, thanks very much to Phil Marlow who provides the logoed shirts and caps for the society. See photo of male models (me and Graham). If you want to order a shirt or cap contact Phil on: 01274633978 or 07973 868865 or email on:golfsales@pgmpromo.co.uk website is:www.pgmpromo.co.uk

Back to individual stableford again this week. We had 33 players, a drop on the recent 50 a week level but the kids are back to school. Amazingly we had 4 scratch golfers playing with us this week. It made us mere mortals feel rather inadequate watching their drives disappear into the distance!

No handicap adjustments will be made until the bunkers are back in play.

Work has started on repairing the bunkers. There are 129 of them but the greenkeeper thinks the work will be complete within 3 weeks.

At the presentation the captain (Graham White) announced that Barry Barker (me) will be taking over the captaincy of the society in May and he will take up the post of president. Graham has done an excellent job in a difficult 1st year of the society and I am sure all members appreciate his work on their behalf.

I didn’t have a camera during the storms but have posted some pics below of the aftermath and you can see there is much work to be done.

cracked dried mud everywhere.....

the white tee on the 8th is balanced precariously with the blue electric cables exposed..........

as for the grasses binding the soil... the water courses just went around the roots.....

the 4th now looks much better but the mud washed off the slopes across the bunkers, fairway and into the lake.....

Please be aware that proof of an active handicap is required when joining or renewing membership with the society. If no proof of handicap can be shown then the member will not be eligible to win a major competition until three cards have been returned.
See Handicapping Policy
For further info on CONGU/EGA conversion see here